Sande Chen, a video game designer and writer living in White Plains, participated in a hackathon this March that challenged participants to create an online game in 24 hours.

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Sande Chen knew what she was getting into before it started: 24 hours to create an online game that would appeal to millions.

Commonly referred to as a hackathon, Chen headed to downtown Manhattan in March for a challenge posed to some of the best and brightest in the field of technology.

Sponsored by AOL's Games.com, this particular event asked competitors to create - in a day, minus an hour thanks to daylight-saving time - a game based on the theme "launch." The motif inspired several rocket-oriented concepts, and a game asking players to shoot muffins as projectiles. ...